Food Poisoning
by JAMluva
Summary: Future Fic A bad case of food poisoning almost stops Annie from completing a mission. But is it really just food poisoning, or is it something else? One-shot for now, unless I figure out where to take it from here.
1. Food Poisoning

Annie Walker found herself in front of the toilet early Tuesday morning. The nausea had come as quite a shock; Annie _never _got sick. She wasn't allowed. She hoped it was just food poisoning and that it would pass over quickly.

August Anderson woke up to an empty bed. His hands searched the sheets, finding nothing.

"Annie?" He called, curious.

No answer. Auggie sat up, tuning his ears for any unusual noises. The house was dead silent.

"Annie?!" He called again, slightly more worried now.

"In the bathroom," she answered.

"You had me troubled there for a second, Walker." He said, heading to the bathroom.

"Sorry Auggie."

Auggie's nose picked up on the scent as soon as he crossed the threshold of the bathroom.

"Oh." Then to Annie he said, "You okay?"

"Fine. I think it's just food poisoning."

"Well let's hope that's all, need I remind you we're supposed to be on a plane to Argentina in less than six hours?"

"I'm fine really. I'm starting to feel better already," Annie insisted.

Just then, Auggie heard a noise that was about as bad as seeing it, if not worse.

"You sure? I can call Joan to send someone else." Auggie reminded her, concerned.

"I'm okay, really. Don't worry about me."

"I worry about you every day." He told her sincerely.

"You don't need to."

"Says the CIA agent who spends more time international than she does in her own country. The same woman who sees more guns than she does coffee cups."

Annie stood up then and playfully slugged Auggie on the shoulder. He chuckled and put his arms around her, pulling her close. He leaned in to kiss her, but pulled back before their lips touched.

"What?" Annie asked, confused.

Instead of answering, Auggie moved his hand toward the sink, picked up a small object, and held it in front of where he was sure Annie's face was.

"Sorry, Walker. You reek."

Annie grimaced. She didn't have to be blind to know that.

"I suppose I'll have to work on that then, won't I?" She chuckled, taking the toothbrush from him.

Auggie laughed too. "Yeah I guess." He leaned down, kissed her on the top of the head, and then left her in the bathroom alone.

"Walker, you hungry?" Auggie called from the kitchen as Annie finished up in the bathroom.

"See, this is one of the times I wish you could see the look on my face." She answered as she walked in.

"Oh, right. Food poisoning. Sorry."

Annie opened her mouth to respond but was hit with another wave of nausea. She ran to the sink, making it in the nick of time.

She wiped her face on a paper towel and turned to Auggie, who looked concerned. "Are you sure you don't want me to ask Joan to send someone else?"

Annie bit her lip. She was never one to back down from a mission. But she was starting to doubt her capabilities to go out in the field that day. How was she supposed to turn a target, when she couldn't even hold down her breakfast? But, this was Annie. She knew what she had to do.

"No, I can do it." She said confidently.

"Whole armies," he muttered.

Auggie sat at the back of the plane, waiting for Annie to return from her trip to the bathroom. The mission had been simple, the target had been easily turned, and they were on their way home. He was amazed at how well she had hid her stomach problems. However, since this was her fifth trip to the bathroom in the last two hours, he knew she wasn't over whatever bug she had just yet.

Soon enough Annie returned to her seat beside Auggie.

"Annie," he began.

"Don't." She warned him. "It's not what you think."

"Then what is it?" He pressed.

"I've just had a lot of water I guess."

Auggie leaned in close. "I don't believe you." He breathed.

All her years of CIA training and Annie couldn't come up with anything to say. She was too distracted by the man mere inches away from her face. Auggie was slightly surprised when Annie met his lips with her own. He smiled into the kiss, _well she was right, she must be over whatever illness had hit her that morning_, he thought. He pulled back from the kiss, leaning his head back against the seat.

A few minutes later, Auggie had an idea. "What do you think about meeting my brother?"

No answer. "Annie?"

Auggie listened hard and discovered her even breathing. He realized she must have been asleep. So he grinned and kissed her on the head before leaning his head back again to doze for a few minutes himself.

Auggie didn't dream often anymore. And when he did, he didn't usually see images. He did right after his accident. Back then he mostly dreamt about the accident. That was a nightmare he knew he'd never be able to shake. This time it wasn't a nightmare, but the image was just as vivid and unforgettable.

Realization hit him as he woke up. "Annie," he tried, hoping she was awake now.

"Auggie?"

"I don't think you had a stomach bug." He stated, turning to the sound of her voice.

Annie was silent for a few moments. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, not that it really mattered. "I know." She whispered.

"Annie I think you might – " He started, finding her hand and taking it in his own.

"Be pregnant?" She squeezed his hand. "Yeah, I've thought about it too."

"And?" He squeezed back.

"And I'm buying a test as soon as we get in D.C."


	2. Positive

Annie stood with her arms around Auggie's waist, his arms hung loosely around her shoulders. They stood staring at the test that lay on the counter. Well, Annie was staring, Auggie was looking in the direction of the test, eyes unfocused. Annie leaned her head on Auggie's chest, contemplating what this would mean for them. He tightened his arms around her in response.

After three minutes, the timer on Annie's phone went off. She made no move to leave the comfort of Auggie's arms.

"Want me to look?" He suggested.

"And how would that be helpful?" She joked nervously. "This thing isn't exactly written in braille."

They stood for a few more minutes in silence.

"You should look." He told her but he didn't loosen his hold on her.

"Yeah." Though she made no effort to move.

A few more minutes passed, neither one showed any sign of moving. Then, Auggie dropped his arms as Annie slowly pulled away. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to look at the test.

That breath was quickly taken away.

"What does it say?" Auggie inquired.

Nothing.

"Annie?" He pressed, unsure if her silence was a good sign.

"It's positive." She said as she slid to the ground. Her life would never be the same, she realized, as she rested her head against the back of the counter.

Auggie was having a mix of emotions. On the one hand, he was exceedingly happy. He loved Annie and was hoping they would start a family one day. He hadn't expected that day to be so soon, but he was happy nonetheless. At the same time though, he was afraid. He worried the dream he'd had on the plane was coming true. He hoped that would never happen, but Auggie was more realistic than that.

This was really happening. He was going to be a father. Annie was having a baby. _His_ Annie was having _his_ baby. Auggie smiled. This wasn't the time to be worried. He could worry about everything else later, now was the time for him to celebrate with the love of his life.

Having gained control of his emotions, Auggie searched for Annie. He had been so caught up in the moment, he had failed to hear her fall to the ground. Listening intensively, he heard her quiet sobs coming from much lower than she should have been had she been standing.

"Am I okay to sit down?" He asked tentatively. "I won't crush your legs or anything?"

"You're clear." She told him in a small voice that didn't seem like her own .

Auggie joined her on the floor. After hearing her sobs subside, he reached his arm out to find her. He found her shoulder, and began stroking reassuringly. Annie shifted so she could lean into Auggie. He continued rubbing her shoulder.

It took a long time, but eventually Annie was ready to talk.

"Why am I not happy about this?" She asked Auggie.

"What do you mean?"

"This is the moment most women jump and scream in excitement. Why am I upset about it?"

"Well, you're not most women, Annie. There's a lot more things you have to worry about on a daily basis. And maternity leave isn't exactly a job perk of yours."

"I didn't think I'd ever have children." She admitted.

Auggie's hand stopped rubbing her arm. "You don't want children?"

Annie looked up to see the hurt look on Auggie's face. "No, that's not what I meant. I just hadn't thought about it I guess."

Auggie relaxed and continued. "Guess you've had a lot on your mind lately."

"Lately? Try the past couple years. I haven't even had much of a vacation since we met."

"Yeah, being a CIA operative does that to a person."

They again sat in silence. Auggie was very good at talking Annie down, but now didn't seem to be the time for that. She just needed to cry it out. He figured it was only the beginning of the things that were about to change.

* * *

Annie waited until after her first doctor's appointment to call Danielle. Since the moment she'd found out she was pregnant she had been desperate to talk to her sister, but she wanted an expert's confirmation before she spread her news.

Danielle was over-joyous when Annie called. "Annie!" She exclaimed into the phone. "It's been too long! Why haven't you called?"

"I've been…" Annie struggled to find the right word, "busy," she finished lamely.

"What countries have you visited in the last month then?"

"Danielle…" Annie half-heartedly began.

"Oh, am I not allowed to ask?" Danielle asked, the sarcasm heavy.

"No, you can ask. It's actually been a slow month; I've only been to Argentina and Italy."

"That's slow?" Danielle scoffed.

"Danielle, I didn't call for you to guilt-trip me."

"No? Then why did you call?" Danielle sneered.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted.

"WHAT? AND YOU'RE JUST NOW TELLING ME?" Danielle shouted into the phone.

"Danielle, please. I have a really bad headache." Annie pleaded. She knew she should have waited to call her sister.

"Sorry." And she sounded it. "How far along are you?"

"Bout 4 weeks. I just got back from my first doctor's appointment."

"That's so exciting Annie! I'm really happy for you. I'll have to come out and visit you in a few months then won't I?"

"D-Danielle?"

"Yes, Annie?"

"I'm scared."

"Oh, Annie. It's going to be fine. You have Auggie, remember?"

Annie nodded. "Yeah."

"You're going to be alright Annie."

"Okay." Though she wasn't convinced.

"Annie?"

"Yes?"

"I promise you, you'll be alright, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you sis,"

"Love you too."

"Bye Annie."

"Bye Danielle."


	3. A Not So Simple Mission

When Annie first told Joan she was pregnant, Joan decided to cut back on assigning her certain missions. She knew she couldn't keep Annie out of the field entirely, but she knew it would kill Auggie if something were to happen to her. So that's why just after she entered her second trimester, Joan was sending Annie on a simple brush pass.

"Joan, I can handle harder missions." Annie protested when she was given the assignment.

Beside her, Auggie squeezed her arm. "It's not that we don't think you could do harder things, we just want to be as careful as we can."

Annie knew he was right. Still, all the concern and over-protection were frustrating her. She was still Annie Walker, she hadn't hanged that much.

"Don't take it out on Joan. She's just concerned about you," Auggie started as they walked back to his office. "We both are. This pregnancy hasn't been easy on you."

"Pregnancy isn't easy on anyone." She snapped.

Auggie was silent. He knew it was pointless to argue with a pregnant Annie. It was hard enough arguing with regular Annie.

* * *

"Hello Neshema," said a familiar voice.

Annie turned around to see Eyal Levin with a huge mocking grin on his face. There was only one reason why he was here.

"It's a simple brush pass for crying out loud, I don't need to be babysat. Auggie didn't need to call you."

"I was in the neighborhood anyway, it wasn't even out of my way."

"That's not what I meant."

"Annie, calm down. It's not like I'm going to hold your hand while you deliver the package. Auggie just wanted someone close by in case things got out of hand." Eyal explained. "Because let's face it Annie, even simple brush passes aren't so simple with you. You get into messes more times than a spy should."

Knowing it was useless arguing, Annie sighed. She should have known Auggie would send back-up. She should just be grateful he had picked someone she liked.

"Fine, lets do this. Where will you be?"

"Close by," was all he said as he disappeared into the crowd.

Annie turned and searched for her contact, a middle-aged, short, balding man. She had been told he would be wearing an expensive wristwatch and that she should wait for him to approach her.

Twenty minutes went by. No contact. Another ten passed. When forty-five minutes had gone, Annie became worried.

"Auggie, I can't find him." She whispered into her headset. Tears came to her eyes, but Annie fought them back. She was not breaking down in the middle of an airport.

"Wait a little longer, maybe his flight was delayed."

Annie swallowed. Auggie could sense that something was wrong. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"Joan's right, I shouldn't be working in the field anymore." She admitted, her voice breaking. "I can't even do a simple brush pass right."

"Hey this is in no way your fault. Don't beat yourself up over it." Auggie told her. "Looks like our guy isn't showing up, I think it's time to call it quits. You can come home now Annie."

"Hold that thought, found our contact." She said, hanging up.

Auggie put his face in his hands and sighed. It was that moment that Joan decided to come by and see how Annie was doing.

"How's she holding up?" She asked.

"Not great. It kills me that I can't be there for her right now." Auggie admitted.

"I know." Joan told him. "She's not alone though."

"I know."

"Don't worry, Auggie. She's going to pull through. You know she always does."

Auggie nodded as Joan left. He turned his attention back to his headset,waiting for Annie to call him back.

Auggie tried calling her. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. He tried Eyal. Nothing. Frustrated he threw his headset on his desk.

Eyal knew Auggie would be worried, so as soon as she had been put in the ambulance, he pulled out his phone only to find four missed calls from Auggie himself.

"What the hell went wrong?" Auggie wasted no time when Eyal finally called him back.

"Auggie, calm down. Annie needs you."

That didn't sound good. "What happened?" He asked.

"I think you need to come see for yourself, so to speak."

"Eyal, what are you not telling me?"

"She was shot Auggie."


	4. The Hospital

_Not again, not again, not again_. Auggie thought to himself on the plane. He checked his watch. Four hours, 32 minutes, 28 seconds. That's how long it had been since Eyal had told him the news. It seemed like a lifetime to Auggie.

"Can I get you anything Mr. Anderson?" A deep voice asked. As soon as Joan had heard about Annie she had arranged for an agency private plane to fly Auggie straight to Lisbon. Joan had almost accompanied him herself, but a last minute international crisis had forced her to stay in D.C.

"No thank you." Auggie replied. "Robert is it?"

"Yes sir," Robert answered. "We have a long flight ahead of us; perhaps you should get some sleep."

"Believe me Robert if I could I would." Auggie informed him.

"Fair enough, let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

"Thanks."

Robert escorted Auggie to the hospital. They were in the lobby when Eyal found them.

"Auggie!" He called and ran over to him. "She just got out of surgery, they took her to a room on the fourth floor."

Auggie released his hold on Robert and patted his arm. "Thanks again Robert. You can go now."

"I hope everything works out for you Mr. Anderson." Robert told him sympathetically as he left.

"Here," Eyal said as he touched the back of his hand to Auggie's. Auggie grabbed his arm and they headed to the fourth floor.

"How is she? Is she awake? How's the baby?" Auggie fired off the questions he had been dying to ask for hours.

"She's… alive. When I left to come find you she was still asleep. They're worried she's lost so much blood that the baby…" Eyal found himself unable to continue.

"What?!" Auggie demanded.

"Might not make it." Eyal finished. "They've given her blood transfusions but they don't know how well her body will react to it."

Auggie's heart sank. He couldn't believe this was happening. Years ago he didn't mind living a dangerous life, even after his accident. But ever since Annie Walker walked into his life, he'd been more protective. Especially of Annie.

"What happened, Eyal? How could this possibly have happened to Annie? "

"Would you believe me if I said it was simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Eyal teased half-heartedly.

Auggie didn't laugh.

Eyal sighed. "After she finished talking to you, she found her contact. The pass did turn out to be quite smooth, much simpler than the pass we did that first time, might I add. She had just walked out of security when the gunman pulled his weapon. Annie accidentally dropped the package and the noise shocked the gunman into pulling the trigger. The bullet pierced a blood vessel on her left leg just above the kneecap.

"I don't think the gunman intended to shoot anyone. After he shot Annie he dropped the gun and ran. I followed and caught him. The PSP arrested him and I went to find Annie. When I got back a group of EMTs were lifting Annie on a stretcher into an ambulance. That's when I called you."

They had reached the room then. Eyal guided Auggie to the chair by the bed. Auggie collapsed his cane as he sat down clutching it in his hands. Eyal collapsed into the chair by the door. He was out within minutes.

* * *

It was hours before Annie woke. Eyal had left around two in the morning and had come back with coffee for the both of them. Auggie took his but didn't drink it. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep but he couldn't until he heard her voice.

"Auggie?" A soft, feminine voice called hours later.

"Annie! You're awake." He exclaimed, finding her hand and clutching it.

"Auggie," She began, her voice hoarse.

"Take your time," he encouraged.

"I'm afraid," she paused to catch her breath. He squeezed her hand. "I'm afraid we're going to lose her." They hadn't officially found out the sex yet but Annie was convinced it was a girl. Auggie thought it was a boy, but Annie pulled the "mother's intuition" card and told him "it just feels like a girl."

"I won't let that happen." He told her boldly, squeezing her hand tighter.

She squeezed back harder, but then her hand went limp in his.

"Annie?!"

"Auggie, it's fine. She just fell back asleep."

Auggie relaxed and extended his cane.

"Where are you going?" Eyal questioned as Auggie stood up.

"To find some Aspirin. I haven't slept in over 48 hours and I have a killer headache. Now that I know she really is still alive I think I'm going to get some sleep."

"The beeping heart monitor couldn't confirm that for you?" Eyal joked.

Auggie ignored the comment. "Call me if anything changes?"

"Absolutely."


	5. You Put Your Arms Around Me and I'm Home

"Auggie?" Annie tried, unsure whether he was awake, but too tired to open her eyes and see.

Nothing.

"Auggie," Annie tried again, louder this time.

No response.

With considerable effort Annie opened her eyes. She found Auggie in a chair on the right side of her bed, head resting on the bed beside her hand, and breathing evenly. He looked so peaceful she didn't want to disturb him. But she was finally feeling strong enough to talk and she knew he'd wanted to talk to her.

Annie moved her hand to Auggie's head, running her fingers through his hair. It was the only part of him she could reach without moving. She hoped it would be enough to wake him. She closed her eyes again.

It took a few minutes but it worked. Auggie slowly raised his head, Annie's hand dropped back to the bed. He'd just relieved Eyal from Annie-watch. He hadn't meant to doze off, it just happened.

Taking her hand it in his own, Auggie smiled. "You're awake."

"Sort of," she laughed once.

"What does that mean?" A puzzled expression crossed his face briefly.

"Mentally I'm wide awake, physically… I could sleep for a few more days." She explained.

Auggie laughed. "Let's take it one day at a time, Walker."

Annie laughed too. _What a pleasant sound_, he thought. A sound so pleasant, for a second Auggie almost forgot where they were.

Beep… Beep… Beep. Almost.

"You gave me quite a scare there, Annie." He admitted.

"Auggie?"

Auggie turned his head to the sound of her voice, concerned. "Annie?"

"I'm cold." She told him without opening her eyes.

She heard him stand. "Scoot over a little." He told her.

"Should you be doing this?" She asked, knowing exactly what his plan was.

"Annie Walker is questioning my deviancy?"

She laughed.

"Besides, this is the best way to get your body temperature up. Survival 101." He told her, climbing onto the bed beside her, and pulling her tight against him.

"Okay Mr. Eagle Scout." She laughed, leaning into him.

Auggie chuckled.

They lay for a few minutes together, simply enjoying each other's warmth. Auggie's hand rested on her slightly protruding abdomen, his head against her own.

"I missed you, Auggie."

"Mm," was Auggie's response, his voice muffled by her hair. "I missed you too."

They fell again into peaceful silence.

"You still cold?" He asked a while later.

"A little." She answered.

He pulled himself ever so slightly closer to her.

"Can I ask you something?" She spoke a few minutes later.

"Sure."

"What do you think of the name Tyler?"

"For what?"

"I'm rolling my eyes at you." But she smiled instead.

Auggie laughed.

"It's a good name I suppose. I can see us having a Tyler."

"I like it. She feels like a Tyler."

"She? I thought we were discussing boys' names."

"Tyler can be a girl too."

"I suppose."

"You don't like it?" She sounded hurt.

"No, I like it." He lied.

"Liar."

"Okay, it's weird." He admitted.

"Okay, so no Tyler."

"Guess not." He agreed.

"What other suggestions do you have?"

"Honestly, I haven't thought about it." He informed her.

"We still have time."

"That we do."

Again they fell into passive silence.

"I think I need to look for another job."

"Maybe. We can talk to Joan when we get back."

* * *

"Mr. Anderson, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but that bed you're sharing with your wife is meant for one occupant not two."

Auggie jerked awake, forgetting for a moment where he was. Hearing the doctor's familiar chuckle, he joined in with his own. "Sorry, sir." He apologized. Auggie really was growing to like Doctor Hudson. He had a good sense of humor, yet knew when it was time to be serious.

"How are you feeling Ms. Walker?" Dr. Hudson asked.

"Tired, sore, slight headache." She told him, knowing she shouldn't hide anything from her doctor. "Little warm," she added. Auggie pulled back, sitting up. Annie took his hand in hers, indicating for him not to go anywhere.

"Maybe you shouldn't have invited the hot blind guy into your bed." He joked.

Annie smiled. "Well I was cold at first."

"You know we have stuff we can give you for those types of things Miss Walker." He informed her.

"I think I like my way better."

"I'm sure you do." Dr. Hudson laughed again. He wrote something down on his clipboard.

"Okay, Ms. Walker I'm going to check your vitals. Then I'll have a nurse come in with medicine to treat some of the side effects of the transfusion."

"I like him." Auggie said after Dr. Hudson left.

"I know you do."

"He laughs at my blind jokes, what isn't there to like?"

"You like it when people laugh at your blind jokes don't you?"

"Well you laugh at my blind jokes, don't you?"

"You're adorable when you make your blind jokes."

"Knew it. Ladies love a blind guy." He said smugly.

The nurse walked in then. "Please get off the bed, Mister. You're not supposed to be there."

"Sorry ma'am." He said, sliding off the bed. Unsure of where his cane was, Auggie chanced a step without it, hoping he wouldn't run into anything and that he was moving out of the way. He was wrong on both counts.

Attempting to stop the nurse from crashing to the floor, Auggie reached his arms out. This seemed to startle the woman.

"Get your hands off me! What are you trying to do? Did you not see me standing there? What are you, blind?" She screamed at him.

"I am, actually." He said, pointing to his unfocused eyes.

The nurse was silent. "Sorry," she said to him.

"Don't worry about it."

"Well Ms. Walker I'm here to give you some Paracetamol. It should lower your body temperature a little and relieve your headache slightly."

"Thank you ma'am." Annie told her.

"Is it working yet?" Auggie asked after the nurse left, stepping closer to the bed.

"I don't know, is it supposed to make me sleepy?" Annie's speech began to slur.

Auggie laughed. "I wouldn't know."

Annie reached for Auggie's arm, pulling him toward the bed. "Come back to bed," she begged.

Auggie grinned, he didn't need to be told twice.

**Author's Note: As of this chapter I decided that Annie and Auggie have been married for a while. Maybe one day I'll write a prequel to this story where we see them get married. But for this story, it made more sense to have them married already. Oh, and Annie kept her last name; that just seems like something Annie would do.**


	6. Annie Are You Okay?

Late that night, Annie woke up screaming.

"No!" She cried out. "I can't … she can't … we can't," she struggled to form a complete sentence.

"What happened? Annie, talk to me." Auggie pleaded, concern lined his every word.

"I lost her, Auggie." Her eyes brimming with tears. Involuntarily, she let out a sob.

Auggie's hands found Annie's face. After wiping away a tear, Auggie spoke. "No you didn't. We didn't lose her. She's right here." He told her, rubbing her stomach.

Annie nodded against Auggie's left hand, still held against her head. It wasn't enough though.

"Auggie I'm afraid something is wrong."

"Eyal?" Auggie hoped the man was awake.

"On it." Auggie heard Eyal leave.

* * *

Doctor Hudson didn't find anything particularly wrong with Annie. "In fact," he began telling Auggie after he had finished his examination. "She's doing really well." He spoke to Auggie because Annie had promptly fallen asleep when he was done. "Sure, she experienced some minor side effects from the transfusion, but nothing major, I think in day or two you'll be able to go home. I strongly suggest she visit her obstetrician as soon as possible though."

"Is she really out of the woods?"

"Well, no, but she should make it back to the U.S. just fine." He told him. "Her blood pressure is a little low, but she should be fine. I figured you guys were ready to go home."

"What does it matter if we're only going back to another hospital?"

"The US has safer procedures, better medicine."

Of course Auggie knew that. This whole experience was so stressful for Auggie he was forgetting a lot of things.

"I have other patients I need to see, I will check back with you two in a few hours. Take care, Mr. Anderson."

"Thanks again, doctor."

* * *

Thirty six hours later Annie and Auggie were on a plane halfway back to D.C. Eyal had said his goodbyes at the hospital; he had a Mossad mission to complete.

"Hey what happened the other day?" Auggie asked her, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Annie knew exactly what he was referring to. "Bad dream," was all she said.

"Annie." He said sternly.

She closed her eyes, remembering. "I was at the airport again, preparing to do the brush pass. Then Lena showed up, and…" Annie couldn't continue.

"And what?"

"I saw her, Auggie. She's the most beautiful baby girl, Auggie. She had your eyes, your face. "

"Your smile?"

Annie gave him a confused look. "What?" She said, remembering he couldn't see it.

Auggie explained. "I've seen her too. And that smile is definitely not mine."

"What do you mean you've 'seen her too'?"

"Like you. A dream. Of sorts," he added.

"I thought blind people didn't dream."

"Some do. I usually don't 'see' things when I do. But that changed after Argentina."

"What happened after Argentina?"

"That's when I saw her."

"Oh. Yeah, she had my smile."

"Which is lovely by the way."

Auggie felt Annie's face warm as she hid herself into his shoulder.

"Thanks," she said, turning her face out again.

"I'll bet she'll love her Kitten Heels just as much as you do too." Auggie joked.

Annie wasn't so optimistic. "That's not all."

"What did Lena do?"

"Auggie…"

Auggie sighed. He didn't need her to tell him. Though he didn't know exactly how it happened, and that wasn't need-to-know, he knew what happened. Lena killed their baby.

"Annie, we won't lose her, okay?" Auggie wished now more than ever that he could look Annie in the eye.

Annie met his gaze. "Okay,"

Before Auggie knew it, Annie's head fell hard onto his shoulder again. At first he thought she had just fallen asleep. So often had she fallen asleep lately, she seemed almost narcoleptic. But as her head fell onto his arm, he knew something was wrong.

The woman sitting between Auggie and the window gasped.

"Annie?!" He tried, knowing it was pointless. "Can I get some help here?" He called.

Auggie heard someone approaching.

"Sir, can you help her up and move her to the aisle?" He recognized one of the flight attendants voices.

"Is the pathway clear?" He asked, just to check.

"Yes."

"I'll support her head so you can stand up." The attendant told him, lifting Annie's head from where it lay limp on his arm.

Auggie stood up, slipped one arm under Annie's legs, the other behind her upper back, and lifted.

"Take one step to your left and you can turn and set her down on the floor of the aisle."

Holding her close, Auggie did as he was told. He safely got her on the ground. Kneeling beside her, he tried shaking her to wake her. "C'mon, Annie. C'mon."

"She's awake." The attendant informed him.

"Annie!"

"Aug…"

"Annie?" He turned in the direction of the flight attendant. "What's wrong?

"Give her a minute, she's still recovering."

"Annie, stay with me. Focus on my voice; we're going to get you out of this okay? In a few hours we'll be home. Just hold on with me."

"Annie you still there?"

"Yeah… I'm here."

"Good."

"Here, ma'am, drink this." The attendant told her, handing her a cup of apple juice. Annie did as she was told.

"How are you feeling ma'am?" The attendant asked.

"Um alright I suppose. Still a little dizzy." Auggie didn't like the sound of her voice. Too strained. He found her hand and took it in his own.

"Your blood pressure seems to be really low; we think that's why you fainted." The attendant told her.

"I think so too." Annie replied, clutching Auggie's hand.

"We're three hours from D.C., we can get you into a medical team within minutes of landing. Hold on til then okay?"

Annie nodded. She sure hoped she'd make it.

So did Auggie.


End file.
